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  THE 
  VERTEBKATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  " 
  DEE." 
  

  

  Eagles 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  rocks, 
  and 
  remained 
  until 
  the 
  estate 
  

   passed 
  into 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  Hon. 
  William 
  Gordon, 
  when 
  they 
  

   again 
  fled, 
  and 
  have 
  never 
  since 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  country. 
  

   These 
  facts, 
  marvellous 
  as 
  they 
  may 
  appear, 
  are 
  attested 
  by 
  a 
  

   crowd 
  of 
  living 
  witnesses." 
  We 
  are 
  sorry 
  to 
  cast 
  doubt 
  on 
  

   such 
  a 
  prettily 
  told 
  tale, 
  more 
  especially 
  so 
  because 
  it 
  is 
  

   believed 
  in 
  so 
  faithfully 
  in 
  the 
  district. 
  As 
  to 
  whether 
  or 
  not 
  

   Eagles 
  bred 
  on 
  this 
  rocky 
  headland 
  we 
  will 
  not 
  presume 
  to 
  

   say; 
  but 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  seen 
  to 
  return 
  by 
  the 
  many 
  

   witnesses 
  were 
  merely 
  Peregrine 
  Falcons, 
  and 
  not 
  Eagles 
  ; 
  

   and 
  the 
  former 
  have 
  often 
  to 
  do 
  duty 
  for 
  the 
  " 
  King 
  of 
  Birds 
  " 
  

   when 
  superstitious 
  notions 
  require 
  support. 
  

  

  Genus 
  ASTUR, 
  Lacepede. 
  

   Astur 
  palumbarius, 
  Linn. 
  Gos-Hawk. 
  

  

  " 
  Very 
  rare, 
  and 
  for 
  a 
  good 
  many 
  years 
  not 
  ascertained 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  seen 
  at 
  all. 
  One 
  was 
  killed 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  at 
  

   Crathes 
  in 
  1837." 
  (Adams.) 
  Edward 
  mentions 
  this 
  species 
  

   as 
  having 
  been 
  shot 
  and 
  trapped 
  near 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Strathbeg 
  

   — 
  (Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  iv., 
  p. 
  270). 
  A 
  female 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Forglen, 
  

   the 
  estate 
  of 
  Sir 
  George 
  Abercrombie, 
  Bart., 
  on 
  December 
  

   23rd, 
  1875, 
  and 
  passed 
  through 
  my 
  hands. 
  On 
  January 
  22nd, 
  

   1876, 
  one 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Hazelhead, 
  near 
  Aberdeen, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  

   in 
  Aberdeen 
  University 
  Museum. 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  the 
  more 
  island 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  middle 
  division 
  of 
  

   Scotland, 
  especially 
  among 
  the 
  Grampians 
  of 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  

   it 
  may 
  now 
  and 
  then 
  be 
  observed." 
  (MacGillivray.) 
  The 
  

   same 
  author, 
  however, 
  says 
  in 
  his 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  Deeside, 
  

   p. 
  393 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  Gos- 
  

   Hawk, 
  Astur 
  palumbarius, 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  Braemar 
  of 
  late 
  

   years." 
  Still 
  we 
  are 
  told 
  in 
  A 
  Treatise 
  upon 
  Falconry, 
  published 
  

   at 
  Berwick-on-Tweed, 
  in 
  1841, 
  that 
  the 
  Gos-Hawk 
  ["breeds 
  

   upon 
  the 
  wooded 
  banks 
  of 
  Dee"]; 
  accordingly 
  I 
  think 
  

   brackets 
  are 
  very 
  necessary 
  for 
  the 
  statement. 
  

  

  In 
  CasselVs 
  Natural 
  History, 
  vol. 
  iii., 
  p. 
  271, 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  : 
  

   " 
  The 
  author 
  was 
  introduced 
  to 
  an 
  old 
  gamekeeper 
  on 
  the 
  

   Marquis 
  of 
  Huntly's 
  estate 
  at 
  Aboyne, 
  who 
  perfectly 
  re- 
  

   members 
  the 
  Gos-Hawk 
  breeding 
  regularly 
  at 
  Glen 
  Tanner." 
  

   This 
  is 
  an 
  entire 
  error. 
  It 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  Kite 
  (Milvus 
  

   ictinus) 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  keeper 
  referred. 
  

  

  